GE Lighting To Invest in Cleveland Landmarks & Education

GE Lighting To Invest in Cleveland Landmarks & Education: EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO-based GE Lighting will provide more than $200,000 in energy- and maintenance-cost saving LED lighting systems for two Cleveland landmarks – the historic West Side Market and Cleveland’s Public Square – as part of a day-long GE Works celebration of its employees, heritage of innovation, and Cleveland roots.

“This investment reflects our commitment to Northeast Ohio and desire to better showcase two truly iconic and beloved Cleveland gathering spots,” says Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO of GE Lighting. “We take great pride in GE Lighting’s more than 130 years of innovation and the century of industry firsts conceived in research labs right here at Nela Park.”

GE’s leadership in LEDs can be traced to the invention of the first visible LED by GE scientist Nick Holonyak nearly 50 years ago. GE LED systems are being used in a variety of applications, including traffic signals, signage, grocery cases, spot and flood lighting, office and residential lighting, parking lots and roadways.

At a community event hosted at GE Lighting’s headquarters on September 27, Sylvester announced a donation of $100,000 to Case Western Reserve University to support a four-year scholarship for a 2013 Cleveland Metropolitan School District MC2STEM high school graduate. Case Western Reserve will provide any remaining support, so that the student’s tuition, room, board, and fees will be fully covered, resulting in a scholarship valued up to $200,000. The student will have spent his or her 10th grade year at the MC2STEM high school at Nela Park.

“Our founder, Thomas Edison, understood that hard work leads to true success,” adds Sylvester. “Those who follow in his footsteps at GE value the education of our youth, not only because they will help to continue our legacy of innovation, but also because they will propel advances in our industry that can positively impact our communities for generations to come.”

More than 100 GE Lighting employees were involved in local customer education initiatives taking place during last week’s event, reinforcing the company’s commitment to ecomagination.

Professional customers and Fenn College of Engineering students at Cleveland State University were offered a close look at state-of-the-art LED systems featured on the GE Lighting Revolution Tour truck parked on the CSU campus

GE Lighting employees fanned out across Northeast Ohio to more than a dozen retail lighting aisles to answer questions about lighting choices, such as energy-efficient soft white (halogen) bulbs, CFLs, and LEDs, and the new language on packaging such as “lumens” and the Lighting Facts label that is modeled after the food industry’s “nutrition facts label.”

In support of the West Side Market’s centennial celebration, GE Lighting will provide $80,000 in energy-efficient, ecomagination lighting products to light the exterior of the historic building. The 137′-high clock tower will be illuminated with nearly 30 GE LED spotlights and floodlights. Exterior facings, as well as the street lighting from the West Side Market on Lorain to West 26th Street and all of Market Square, will be re-lamped with energy-efficient GE solutions. An official lighting will take place at West Side Market’s Street Festival + Parade on Sunday, October 7.

Public Square – the site of the first electric street lighting in the U.S. – will receive $125,000 in new LED roadway lights and lampposts through a donation to the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. The new LED systems will provide more uniform light and reduce shadowing and dark spots produced by traditional roadway fixtures, enhancing the beauty and feeling of security in this high-traffic area of Cleveland. The lighting installation is scheduled for completion by Thanksgiving.